Chinghiz Aitmatov 1928 - 2008 Russian/Kyrgyzstan author. Born in 1928 in Kirghiz which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kyrgyzstan's most famous author. He lived an interesting and packed life. He knew tragedy at an early age - his father was executed for bourgeous nationalism when the young Aitmatov was just ten years old. He worked from the age of fourteen in a variety of jobs and studied animal husbandry and literature before turning his talents to writing, a field he soon became highly accomplished in. He won a number of prizes for his novels including the Lenin and State prizes. He also worked as a diplomat in his later years.

A common theme in his writing is his the bond between humans and animals, with a variety of animals featuring in his books. Two of these included horses, but are not pony stories in the traditional sense. They are aimed at adults/older children.

More information about the author can be found on Wikipedia and his obituary.

Horse & Pony Books:

FAREWELL GULSARY(Publisher not known [RUSSIA] 1966)(1st UK edition HODDER & STOUGHTON 1970)SUMMARY: The bond between a man and his stallion.

THE CRANES FLY EARLY(Publisher not known [RUSSIA] 1979)(1st UK edition RADUGA 1983)ILLUSTRATED BY PYOTR IVASHCHENKOSUMMARY: Historical/coming of age story with some horse content. Set in the Second World War in a Kirghiz village. While the men are away fighting the women and children of the village take over the farm work; integral to their life are the horses which they ride and use to work the land.

Collector's Info:Hard to find in English language. Price may vary a lot.